June 10 coronavirus news

Consumer prices continued to fall in May even as the economy began to reopen.

Although lockdown measures eased across the country, consumers kept their wallets closed, keeping prices low.

The consumer price index declined 0.1% in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

This is the third-straight month of falling prices: In April, prices declined 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis, the largest drop since December 2008.

America is in a recession and it will need consumer spending that can stimulate price increases to get its way out of the dire situation.

Food and shelter prices rose in May, but those increases were more than offset by drops in car insurance, energy and clothing prices. Prices for plane tickets and used cares also fell last month.

Stripping out food and energy prices, which tend to be more volatile, consumer prices fell 0.1% in May. It was the first time on record that core inflation declined for three months in a row.

As US cities and states continue to reopen, the public still needs to "practice a degree of caution and carefully go through the process of trying to normalize," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday. 

Fauci recommended people still wear a masks, practice physical distancing, wash their hands often and avoid congregating in large numbers. 

WATCH:

Moscow reported at least 5,260 coronavirus-related deaths in May, the city’s Department of Health said in a statement Wednesday. 

“In May, Moscow registered 15,713 deaths, which is 5,715 cases more than in May of last year (9,998),” the department said, adding that the three-year average of mortality is 9,914.

Covid-19 "as the main or concurrent cause of death" was recorded in 5,260 of those deaths, officials said.

The city’s health officials say they have included “even most debatable cases” in this statistic, adding that only in 2,757 cases coronavirus has been recorded as the main cause of death. 

The department estimated overall mortality from coronavirus to be 2% of confirmed cases if only cases where Covid-19 was the main cause are counted, and 3.8% if all Covid-19 cases are included, arguing that the number is still much lower than in other world capitals. 

Remember: Russia’s official number of Covid-19 deaths has been relatively low compared to countries with similar numbers of overall infections, and observers have questioned official counting methods that permit ascribing deaths in patients who tested positive for coronavirus to other causes such as terminal illnesses and other underlying conditions. 

In late May, Moscow officials revised the Covid-19 death toll for April upward, raising the documented number of fatalities attributed to coronavirus to 1,561 from 636 for the month.

CNN and other news outlets reported in mid-May that the city had seen a mortality spike in April, adding an estimated 1,800 excess deaths in comparison with previous year averages.

Mumbai Public Health officials reported that the city's reported positive coronavirus cases have surpassed the number reported in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the virus outbreak. 

As of Tuesday, 50,878 positive novel coronavirus cases were reported in Mumbai according to the public health department of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

As of June 9, 50,340 positive cases were reported by Wuhan's Health Commission.

India has reported a total of 276,583 novel coronavirus cases while China has reported 84,198 novel coronavirus cases according to John Hopkins University.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, said the World Health Organization "was not correct" in suggesting Covid-19 transmission from an asymptomatic person to an uninfected person is very rare.

Speaking on ABC's “Good Morning America, Fauci weighed in on the comments from a WHO official who suggested asymptomatic people only rarely spread Covid-19, contradicting guidance from public health organizations, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WHO tried to clarify the remarks the next day by saying asymptomatic spread is "a major unknown."

"And we know from epidemiological studies they can transmit to someone who is uninfected even when they're without symptoms. So to make a statement, to say that's a rare event, was not correct," Fauci told ABC's Robin Roberts.

The US government will fund and conduct key studies on three experimental coronavirus vaccines – those developed by Moderna, Oxford University/AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Anthony Fauci confirmed to CNN. 

Phase three trials, which typically involve tens of thousands of people and measure whether a vaccine is safe and effective, will begin with Moderna in July, then Oxford/AstraZeneca in August and Johnson & Johnson in September. 

The funding and trial timing were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.  

Each phase three trial is expected to take place at more than 50 sites, mostly in the United States, but possibly in other countries, too. The trials, which are expected to include about 30,000 people, will begin only after there’s enough evidence of safety and efficacy from earlier trial stages. 

The US government might also plan phase three trials for additional coronavirus vaccines currently in development.

According to the World Health Organization, there are 10 vaccines currently in human trials and 126 more in development.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases just reacted to news that the DC National Guard said some of its troops contracted coronavirus after responding to protests.

He called the development “disturbing,” but “not surprising,” given the lack of social distancing amid protests last week.

He added, “And when you get congregations like we saw with the demonstrations. As we have said, myself and other health officials, that’s taking a risk, and unfortunately, what we’re seeing now is just an example of the kinds of things that we were concerned about.”

Germany will lift its border controls with neighbors France, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark on June 15, German interior minister Horst Seehofer said today.

New arrivals from Italy will also no longer have to go through border controls, though the two countries do not share a physical border.

The controls will be relaxed for travelers arriving from Spain by plane starting on June 21, Seehofer added.

The easing of restrictions comes as the country slowly rolls back its strictest lockdown measures.

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 7 million people worldwide and killed over 400,000. Here's what you need to know about the pandemic: